Int'l media groups decry murder of 2 Pinoy columnists

MANILA, Philippines - International organizations promoting journalists' rights and welfare decry the murder of two Filipino tabloid columnists.

France-based Reporters Without Borders said it is appalled by Tuesday's murder of Bonifacio Loreto and Richard Kho of Aksyon Ngayon Newspaper.

The two columnists were shot dead in Quezon City by two gunmen who immediately escaped.

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“It is obvious from the method used that this double murder was premeditated,” Reporters Without Borders said on its website. “The two journalists were clearly targeted and were gunned down in cold blood. We urge the police to actively consider the possibility that they were killed in connection with their work. It seems the most likely explanation at this point.”

Meanwhile, the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) also asked Philippine authorities for a comprehensive probe on the incident.

"We urge police to investigate these murders thoroughly and identify the motive behind this double murder," CPJ senior Southeast Asia representative Shawn Crispin said on the group's website.

"President Benigno Aquino and the authorities under his command must do more to bring to an end to the impunity in the killing of journalists in the Philippines," he added.

According to Reporters Without Borders, the recent media killing is second shooting involving a journalist in the past month on Luzon.

"If the current suspicions are confirmed, yesterday’s double murder brings the number of journalists killed in connection with the their work in the Philippines to five since the start of the year," the group said.

The Philippines is ranked 140th out of 179 countries in the 2013 Reporters Without Borders press freedom index.

Based on CPJ research, at least 73 Filipino journalists have been killed in direct connection to their work since 1992, making the Philippines the second deadliest country in the world for the press.

At least 55 journalist murders in the past decade have been unresolved, the CPJ said.

The country ranks third on CPJ's Impunity Index, which calculates unsolved journalist murders as a percentage of each country's population.